Apparatus for unloading and distributing materials.



W. A. LAFONT.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING AND DISTRIBUTING MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20,1916.

1 ,22Q,Ql 9., Patented Apr. 10, 1917. F/j.

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WILLIAM A. LAFONT, OFS'I. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING AND DISTRIBUTING IVIATERIALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. it), 19117.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM A. LAFONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Unloading and Distributing lllaterials, of which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus particularly designed for transferring materials such as coal, coke, ore, crushed rock, grain or the like from railway cars, particularly those of theseltdumping type, to storage bins or receptaclesfand which latter are disposed in an arcuate row adjacent to the pit into which the material from the cars is dumped.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a comparatively simple, inexpensive and efficient apparatus which will receive the material from all types of dumping cars and elevate said material into bins or receptacles from whence said material may be conveniently discharged into wagons for conveyance to the delivery points; further to combine with a single dumping pit a series of bins, thereby making the apparatus adaptable for handling several different kinds of material or different grades of the same material, and further to provide an apparatus which can be readily installed without material change in the railway track structure with which said apparatus is associated, and which apparatus can be operated with comparative rapidity and with little power, thereby minimizing the expense incident to the unloading of a car and the transferring of the unloaded material to bins and delivery wagons.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed, said invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully de scribed and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken approX1- mately on the line 22 of Fig. '1.

Referring by numerals to the accompany mg drawings, 10 designates the rails of a railway track and formed beneath said rails is apit 11, the length of which 'is several feet greater than the length of the hopper bottom or dumping cars now in generaluse for transporting material such as coal, gravel, ore and the like. siderably wider than the railway track and the bottom of said pit declines gradually toward a centrally arranged po nt at one side of said pit and leading downward from the lowermost point of said declining bottom is a chute 12 in which is located a suitable gate 18.

A comparatively deep pit 1% is formed in the ground to the side of pit 11 and positioned in the bottom of said pit 1-1 is a hearing 15 which supports a boot or hopper 1.6, the same being located directly beneath the discharge end of chute 12.

Fixed to the boot 16 is the lower end of an elevatorframe 17 in which is mounted for operation an endless conveyor, preferably of the type embodying chains 18 carrying flights 19, said chains being carried upon suitable pulleys at the ends of frame 17. This frame and the elevator carried thereby are maintained in an inclined position by upright frames 21, the lower portions of which are provided with grooved wheels 22, the same being mounted to travel on arcuate rails 28, the same being concentric with the axis of boot 16. Theinner one of these rails is preferably located in the bottom of pit 14L while the other is laid on suitable foundations on top of the ground a short distance away from said pit.

Located on a suitable framework 2% car ried by the upper portion of the elevator frame is a motor 25, preferably electric, and leading therefrom is a driving belt or chain 26, which passes around a pulley or sprocket wheel, the same being carried by the shaft 27 which carries the elevator chain wheels at the upper end of said elevator.

Carried by a suitable supporting framework 28 a suitable distance above the ground and outside the outer one of'the rails 23 is a series of bins 29, the same being arranged in an arcuate row and concentric with the aXis of boot 16. The bot toms of these bins declined toward a central point on the outer wall and leading from the lowermost point of each bin is a chute This pit is con 7 30 in which is located a suitablegate 31. If desired, a suitable roof may be erected over the bins 29. (See dotted lines, Fig. 2.)

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

The el vator 17 is shifted to bring its upper end above the bin into which it is desired to discharge the material to be unloaded from the car and motor 25 is now started with the result that endless carrier within said elevator is operated in the usual manner.

It will be understood that in swinging the elevator from one position to another, the wheels 22 bear upon the arcuate track rails 23 and that the boot or hopper l6 pivotally bearsupon bearing plate 15.

The loaded car isnow moved along track 10 until it is positioned directly over pit 11 and as the doors of said car are opened the lading discharges into said pit.

Upon opening gate 13 the unloaded ma terial discharges through chute 12 into boot or hopper 16 and said material will be carried upward by the overrunning portion of the endless carrier and said material will finally discharge from the upper end of the elevator into one of the'bins 29. From the bins the material can be readily discharged into wagons or the like for conveyance to the points Where said material is to be used,

it being understood that the bins are pos1-' tioned a suflicient distance above the driveway around said bins to permitwagons to pass beneath the lower ends of the chutes 30. (See dotted lines,Fig. 2.)

By arranging the bins in a semi-circular or arcuate row adjacent to the pit into which the material is dumped from the cars it is possible to receive and hold in storage a number of carloads of material and likewise different kinds or grades of material. Consequently, my improved apparatus is par ticularly desirable for the handling of coal in wholesale and retail yards.

It is desirable, though not essential, that vertically disposed walls beextended upward along the sides of the pit 11 as illus trated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, thus preventing waste and insuring the discharge of all of the material from the car into pit 11.

An apparatus of my improved construction is comparatively simple, occupies c0mpara-' tively little ground room in proportion to its capacity, will accommodate all types of hopper bottom or self-dumping ears, and is very ei'licient in the handling of material from loaded cars to storage binsor the like and from said bins to delivery wagons.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved apparatus can be made and substituted for those Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In anapparatus of the class described, the combination with a pit formed in the ground below a railway track and an adjacent deeper pit formed to the side of the railwaytrack, of a discharge spout leading from the boot of the first mentioned pit into the deeper pit, a gate normally closing the lower end of said spout, a base plate fixed in the bottom of said pit, a receptacle pivotally mounted on said base plate immediately beneath the discharge end of said spout, a series of storage bins arranged on the opposite side of the deeper pit from the first men r tioned pit, which storage bins are concentrically disposed with respect to the axis. of

the receptacle, track rails positioned between the row of bins and the receptacle, which rails are concentrically disposed with respect to the axis of said receptacle, a framework mounted for rolling movement upon said track rails, and an inclined elevator carried by said rolling framework, the lower end of which elevator is positioned within the pivotally mounted receptacle and the upper end of which elevator travels in a path above the tops of the bins. 1

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a pit formed beneath a railway track, which pit is provided with a discharge outlet and an adjacent deeper pit into which said outlet discharges, of a pivotally mounted receptacle located in said. deeper pit beneath said outlet, a base plate fixed in the bottom of the pit and serving as a support for the receptacle, a series of storage bins positioned a substantial distance above the plane occupied by the railway track and arranged inran arcuate row which is concentric with the receptacle, a discharge chute leading outwardly from each bin, a gate in each of said chutes, an elevator frame connected to and leading from said receptacle to a plane above the storage bins, an endless conveyor arranged for operation in said frame, means carried by the frame for driving said endless eonveyer, rolling WILLIAM A. LAFONT.

Witnesses 1 M. P. SMITH, M. A. HANDEL.

- Washington, D. 0. 

